ArcGIS Desktop and ArcGIS Server lay down separate installs of the ArcPy module in their respective install locations. In addition, ArcGIS Desktop and ArcGIS Server place unique path configuration files (desktop.pth and server.pth) in the Lib\site-packages folder of the install location for Python.

• Desktop.pth contains the path to the ArcGIS Desktop install for ArcPy. • Server.pth contains the path to the ArcGIS Server install for ArcPy.

When ArcPy is imported as a result of the process described above, the path to the ArcGIS Desktop install of ArcPy is found first. When it is imported it attempts to find a license for ArcGIS Desktop and fails with the exception shown above.